The solution: the new S-class, coming to Europe and the US early 1999 and probably available at your official M-B dealer or corner import-car shop a few months after that.  To address complaints about the previous car's size, the new S is now 75 mm shorter.  Its range of engines, a 3.2 V6, a 4.3 and 5.0 V8, offers better fuel efficiency but less power and torque, having only three valves per cylinder and single overhead cams, from the previous DOHC 4-valve/cylinder configuration.  (Diesels and a V-12 will follow.)  Yet they should have no trouble propelling the new car quickly, because the chassis is much lighter, too, the S500 for example shedding 350 kg.   So expect acceleration times that are quicker yet, the S-class dashing from 0 to 100 km/h in 6.5-seconds.  Helping also is the improved drag coefficient, a best-in-class 0.27.   The five-speed automatic still offers manual gear selection, but instead of Merc's traditional zigzag gates below the Drive position, there are just two slots on either side, for upshifting or downshifting manually. 

More importantly, the car has shed the armored-car look with a shapely new body.  The face sports a distinctly wrinkled pair of headlamps, as if the E-class' four-eyed headlamp cluster had been melted together.  As is M-B's current practice with its new cars, the clusters contain low and high beams, turn signals and fog lamps.   The scooped sides with nearly flush door handles also contribute much to the athletic appearance.   The tail features large triangular clusters, similar to the SLK's.   It's a lithe, elegant approach that hints at the car's newfound sportiness.